The Incarcerated Queen ✔️

Chapter 16

♚ Aphrodite ♚

For a woman in the world I live in, ageing is determined based on how many children you have. If you have several children at a very young age, then you are considered young, vibrant,  voluptuous and lustrous. If you have it at an older age, you're considered a barren, old hag.

The typical age of mating for she-wolves used to be at the tender age of fifteen. That was the same age my mother became pregnant with me, it wasn't until I had ascended the throne had the age of childbirth and intercourse had been considered. I remembered sending out a petition to increase the age of getting married and giving birth, but ultimately it was up to the backwards minded Elderly Council.

Even with the petition, the typical age that a woman should have had children would be before the age of twenty-one. I was twenty-five, I don't even think they invented a word for a woman like me. It was probably the first time the whole Kingdom would witness the shame of a Queen like me who hasn't had any children at this age.

The funniest thing was that I had no track of my age when I was in the 'Gehenna', how did I never notice seven months turn into seven years. I knew silver was dangerous but now I know that it slows time, and makes you a whole new person, in a bad way. The pain of the silver was unbearable at first but then it slowly became numb until I couldn't feel anything.

My back felt so relaxed on the comfortable mattress, it had been a long time since I had slept peacefully. Though, it was short lived. My mind kept scrambling around with visions of the horror I faced when I was in prison.

I jolted from the bed and looked around at my surroundings, I was encapsulated in my old room with a bright light coming from my windows. I was sweating heavily and I decided the best way to get rid of my stench was to go and take a shower.

My bathroom was the same, however, I noticed that the window the intruder, now my mate Ares had broken was fixed. I switched on the shower and immersed myself in the hot water that I so dearly missed back when I was imprisoned. After the cleansing, I picked up the white towel that was beside me and wrapped it around my body. There was no way I was wearing the same dress that had been ripped and bloodied, but I had no other dresses.

Slowly opening the door, I crept out of the bathroom and into my bedroom making sure no one could hear me. The cold air brushed against my skin causing me to slightly shiver and I stared into a closet that was no longer mine.

The aromatic smell of Ares' clothes hit me like a tonne of bricks, I just wanted to cover myself with all the clothes he had. The funny thing was, I couldn't sense my wolf at all, this was all me talking, it was truly scary.

Looking at the closet, I knew I had only two options; either wear this towel around me or use on of his shirts. Shifting into my wolf was not an option because I couldn't sense her inside of me anymore. The towel was getting cold and dry, while the warmth of his shirts lured me in, and without a thought, I dropped my towel to grab one of his shirts and put it around my body.

Once I finished buttoning his shirt, I walked around my bedroom to get a glimpse of my old room that I had so deeply missed. I grazed my fingers over the strong-smelling mahogany until a thought came soaring into my mind.

I had kept my diary in here, it was somewhere. The last time I remembered, it was near my bedside but when I looked back, it was missing. A feeling of sadness spread over my heart, I presumed that he had thrown it away, it seems that my mate had this certain reform to cleanse the entire Kingdom of my memory.

I swiftly walked over to the door of my bedroom and exited it, entering the study where I once used to perform my duties. To my disappointment, I saw him sitting on the chair instead.